Københavns Møbelsnedkeri: the Copenhagen furniture-making collective

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They forage for their own wood, dine together at every home-cooked meal, and holiday together in the wilds of the Scandinavian mountains. The lifestyle of the Københavns Møbelsnedkeri (KoBenHavns for short) furniture-making collective in Copenhagen could have launched a thousand Kinfolk magazines. But KBH has been designing and making beautifully detailed bespoke pieces for some seriously big hitters for 10 years, and though its aesthetic is an Instagram dream (there's an account to prove it @kbhsnedkeri), it’s also the real deal. So far KBH has kept a low profile and let its work speak for itself, but now, a decade in, it’s time to branch out a little. KBH is about to bring its enviable Scandinavian Jante culture to the international stage by launching its own production collection, including 20 pieces from beautiful spun-metal lighting to solid oak shelves.

KBH pieces celebrate craftsmanship; founder and ex-rocker Kim Dolva

Founded in 2006 KBH was originally brought together by ex-rocker and guitar-maker, Kim Dolva. Now with a team of 18 master craftspeople, all working together from their industrial-age Copenhagen workshop, the collective is renowned through Denmark for making furniture and interiors that are beautifully detailed, exceptionally elegant and highly functional. Their designs can be found in high-end homes, hotels, shops and restaurants, including the “neo-fjordic” trio Noma, Relae and Lysverket. Occasionally whimsical, but never gimmicky, the pieces have a clearly definable style, a celebration of craftsmanship in which the materials are manipulated with the utmost respect, and all the construction joints are proudly exposed.

Dolva describes his design education as a long journey. “I started out making bespoke guitars for musicians around the world. After a few years I decided that I wanted to work as a graphic designer, but I really missed the craftsmanship so I went back to school.” During his cabinetmaking degree in Denmark, however, he was frustrated by the insistence that the students would only make other people’s designs, generally old classics.

KBH have supplied furniture for several restaurants including Relae

“Together we began to reform the system,” he remembers. “I was the first one who was allowed to make my own design for the examination. Denmark is very traditional country in many ways so it was a big deal to start changing the way things were done.” Fortunately, his design – a wardrobe for his then six-year-old daughter - was a big success, even resulting in Dolva meeting the Queen of Denmark. “I made something that was worth talking about, it got a lot of attention and people could see that design and craft could be combined to produce work on a very high level.”

Dolva met Søren, who would become his partner at KBH, in class. “We immediately clicked, we did everything together and we knew that we would team up after.” The pair’s first job, which they landed during their final exams, was to rebuild and furnish a ship. “It took us a year and we've been busy ever since.”

They started the company with the clear mission that they would do everything themselves – from building the workshop, to sourcing and fuming their wood, to designing and then making the final pieces. As they evolved, they developed an interest in other materials, bringing in metalwork, glass, leatherwork and stone - growing the collective with complementary skills. “Some of the skills we could implement ourselves but also it was about finding the right people to work with. Today we have architectural designers, metalworkers, leather upholsterers, it's a very cool little community and we do many things together.”

Københavns Møbelsnedkeri is a celebration of craftsmanship in which the materials are manipulated with the utmost respect

KBH is a close-knit team, and has fostered a warm, respectful, hard-working culture over the years. “Everyone has a say and everyone is involved.” The workshop is just 10 minutes from the showroom and the design studio, and everyone comes together at regular points in the day for their breaks. You know when it’s time for a break because someone will ring the old school bell in the courtyard. “And there's a lot of breaks in Denmark,” says Dolva. “In the summer too, we're only 50m from the water and we jump in, swim and have our lunch there.” Next month the whole collective is heading into the Norwegian mountains for a long weekend.

Among their current projects, KBH is designing the interiors for a new restaurant in a Swedish forest. It's a new opening for Stedsans, a renowned restaurant in Copenhagen that has a greenhouse on top of the building and is committed to using only local ingredients. “These guys are brilliant in creating a very special feeling,” says Dolva. “For our Christmas break, we went to the forest where we stayed in tents and they made dinner for us outside at the bonfire, it was one of the best things I've ever tried. Now we're getting involved with their restaurant and we'll build 20 cabins in the forest so that guests can stay overnight. I'm very excited about it.”

Relae restaurant features KBH furniture

Though the majority of their work has been in Denmark to date, KBH is also working on projects in Iceland, the US and Italy, and has a close relationship with Bjarke Ingels of BIG architects, who increasingly commission them for their buildings around the world.

The production collection – which will only be available through 10 selected dealers around the world, is a natural progression for Dolva. “I think I've always been frustrated, because if I make something I really want someone to buy it. To get it out there in the world and have people value it is very important to me. I tell them we have four months to get a dining table and a lot of people think that's a cool thing, but I'd prefer they have the option to get it right away.”

Though many would be quick to describe KBH’s pieces as classic Scandinavian design, Dolva says the inspirations and styles are more complex. “It’s somewhere between classic Danish, Japanese and we also have vintage American industrialism in a lot of what we do,” he says. Where it really stands out, however, is the balance of craftsmanship and design that is still very rare to find done well. “There's a lot of very talented craftsmen that make very high quality work, but a lot of them are not the best designers,” he says. “Then you have very talented designers, but they don't know anything about craftsmanship, so the quality is compromised. We wanted to do a bit of both, to create heirlooms: pieces that are contemporary but timeless too. It sounds like an impossible task, but if you try hard and do what you believe then I think it's possible.”